In the spirit of Valentine's Day I have just spent a very
pleasant day pruning roses at home. It's not a huge garden and,
like most of us, I want to grow more plants in it than the space
will sensibly allow.

Early spring is the best time to see the emerging displays of
snowdrops and crocuses which carpet the lawns here, until spring
when the daffodils will light up the gardens. Who can ever get
bored with coming across a delicious bunch of snowdrops or winter
aconites?

On one level early January is the nadir of the gardening year.
Days are short, light levels low, temperatures chilly and
everything seems deeply dormant. But look more closely and the
signs are there that nature's pulse is already strengthening.

Two of our very few native evergreens, holly and ivy, are as
seasonally synonymous as Christmas and pudding. For our forebears,
these were plants that mysteriously denied the seeming extinction
of nature during winter's icy grip and, to this day, we retain the
ancient custom of decking the house with these evergreen plants to
subdue sprites and goblins over the festive season.

I feel as though I'm in the wrong story- more White Rabbit in
Alice in Wonderland (its late! its late!) than bringing December
news from West Dean on time. Who says there isn't much to do in the
garden in winter. West Dean Gardens will remain open until Sunday
21st so there is still time for you to visit our Gardens Shop for
Christmas gifts and enjoy the delights of the Gardens Restaurant;
best to get in quick as we will be closed throughout January 2015,
reopening on February 1st. At this time of year you can take
advantage of our reduced entry fees to the gardens too.

Flint is one of the defining characteristics of our chalk
landscape. Over the last decade we have completely rebuilt these
river banks as nearly 200 years of flood and frost have left them
in a pretty parlous condition.

As temperatures plummet this time of the year the lights go back
on in the cold frames at West Dean Gardens. It is essential to
provide a minimum of frost protection for those border line hardy
plants that are lined out to over-winter.